


Until He Couldn't Anymore

by ObservationalObsessive



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Hugs, Hurt No Comfort, Spoilers, You've been warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 11:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObservationalObsessive/pseuds/ObservationalObsessive
Summary: Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War---Tony couldn’t possibly have prepared for this. He had tried so incredibly hard to be prepared for the threat he had known for years Thanos still posed. He had done everything he could imagine to build the perfect suit. He had created a solution to any problem he thought Peter had even the smallest chance of facing and had included every one of them in the suit he’d crafted just for Peter. He had done everything he could keep him safe and this...He hadn’t prepared for this.





	Until He Couldn't Anymore

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, last time I'm gonna say it...
> 
> There are spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War in here, all right? If you read this and it ruins your viewing experience, that's not my problem.

Peter was very clearly a hugger. He was also anxious and concerned about overstepping or being annoying.

It was for those reasons that Peter wasn’t about to just hug people because he wanted to. His Aunt May, certainly. In the past, his Uncle Ben. Ned was someone he usually just hugged if he felt like it but, even then, he hesitated sometimes and needed Ned to respond to it so he’d know it was ok.

But for the most part, Peter tried to keep his arms to himself.

Mr. Stark, for example, was someone he often found himself wishing he could hug. The man had become something of a rock for Peter in the two years they’d known each other. He was a mentor and a leader and someone who did an excellent job of making Peter feel safe, even if he didn’t think he did.

And Tony… Well, Tony could tell every time Peter was itching to reach out and wrap his arms around him. He knew.

But it was awkward, wasn’t it? Tony wasn’t used to being in a position like that. This whole relationship was a totally unfamiliar and new dynamic for him and he didn’t exactly know what was right.

The way he saw it… If Peter really, _really_ needed to hug him, he would. And so he chose to ignore it.

Peter never did just go for it. He never did just step forward and do it. At least… not until that one dreadful moment.

They’d just watched enough people dissipate for both of them to know what was about to happen. As the others went, one by one, there was a sinking feeling in Tony’s stomach telling him that it was about to happen to all of them; that Peter would be next and then him.

So he didn’t want to look at the kid.

But then… “Mr. Stark.”

His voice sounded so scared and lost and Tony couldn’t _not_ look then. He couldn’t.

“I don’t feel so good,” Peter told him, his voice weak and wavering.

The others hadn’t had that moment of anticipation and Tony wondered if it was simple fear of what could happen or that “Spidey sense” Peter had tried a few times to explain to him. Either way, he hated the dread it brought to Peter’s eyes; hated the way it made him stumble and shake.

In that moment, which seemed to be playing out in painful slow motion, Tony couldn’t find it in him to say or do anything. When Peter looked up at him, eyes begging for _something_ , all he could get out was an empty, “you’re all right.”

“I - I don’t know what’s happening.” He stumbled forward, and his shaking arms starting to rise as if he wanted to wrap them tightly around his chest and hold himself together. It was something Tony had seen him do when he got anxious - probably to imitate the feeling of the comforting hugs Tony knew he longed for - but the sickening truth was that it couldn’t help here. Not with this.

There was nothing Tony could say.

The kids arms fell uselessly to his sides and he jolted slightly as his legs started to give out. “I don’t -” Words kept coming out of his mouth, broken and stuttered, and he moved forward again. There was no other way to describe the action than collapsing into Tony’s arms.

Finally getting his body to start responding in some way, Tony caught him. And when he did, he held on. His arms wound around Peter’s smaller frame and held him even closer as Peter’s hands reached up and clung to his shoulders. He could feel Peter continue to shake in his arms and wondered if he was shaking too.

He held on so fiercely, he had a brief worried thought that he’d make it happen even quicker.

Peter pressed his face against his hero as it finally crumpled. He had been trying so hard not to panic; to stay strong but it was just too much. His words become choked sobs as he begged Mr. Stark to save him. “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go, please.”

Tony couldn’t possibly have prepared for this. He had tried so incredibly hard to be prepared for the threat he had known for years Thanos still posed. He had done everything he could imagine to build the perfect suit. He had created a solution to any problem he thought Peter had even the smallest chance of facing and had included every one of them in the suit he’d crafted just for Peter. He had done everything he could keep him safe and this...

He hadn’t prepared for _this._

“Please” and “I don’t want to go” continued to sputter from Peter’s lips as Tony lowered him to the ground; something Tony didn’t want to _think about_ already beginning to float way in the faint breeze.

As soon as Peter was on the ground, his begging halted. He gasped, his face smoothing out from the shattered expression it had worn again but still portraying the fear both of them felt deep inside. His eyes stared straight up, past Tony. They were a storming sea of emotions and thoughts and Tony wished he could do _something_ to help clear those feelings before the end; to remove the anxious crease still between Peter’s eyebrows and the faint quiver of his chin.

Even with Peter now lying on the ground and his arms limp at his sides, Tony kept holding on. He searched for something to say but there was nothing. Nothing at all.

He wasn’t prepared.

Then, for an all too short moment in time, Peter’s turned his head to the side and he locked his wide eyes with Tony’s.

_Breathe in..._

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding Tony’s gaze for a second longer before turning his face away again.

Tony held on just a little more firmly and yet…

_And breathe out._

After two years of holding himself back, Peter had thrown himself into his mentor’s arms, even if it hadn’t been entirely by choice. Tony held onto that wonderful kid until he couldn’t anymore; until he was gone.

And then Tony Stark… was still there.

**Author's Note:**

> I know a lot of people have done this scene already but I just had to. I also haven't read any others yet so if it's really similar to another one... I guess we just have similar thoughts? I don't know. 
> 
> But I'm looking forward to reading all the Infinity War fics I can as soon as I'm on break and have time for reading fanfiction! I have lots to catch up on. If there have been any really good fics (especially Peter & Tony ones) in the last few months that I may have missed, let me know what they're called so I can add more to my reading list!
> 
> Also, don't try and tell me that Peter Parker doesn't love hugs, all right? He 100% does.


End file.
